[01]
Saad Issa Sarsam, Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq.

[02]
Marwa Wahab Abdulameer, Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq.

Abstract

To enable and encourage walking, understanding of the characteristics of pedestrian movements is vital. The restrictions on vehicular movement, and scarcity of parking lots had changed the whole traffic movement to the unserviceable condition. Therefore, Walking is considered as the most efficient mode of transportation at Erbil CBD area. In rapidly developing countries like Iraq, however, the recognition of the importance of walking studies is still in its infancy; minimal data exist on this important mode of travel. Knowledge of pedestrian characteristics could effectively assist in the optimization of policies concerning urban land use and the locational distribution of transport-related facilities in Erbil. In this paper, the pedestrians and their walking characteristics in two specific locations at Erbil CBD were studied. The continuous video capturing technique was implemented, the variations in walking speed of pedestrians among pedestrian characteristics such as gender, age group, and clothing traditions have been detected. The level of service was calculated for each sidewalk location. It has been found that the local pedestrians’ walks slower than other pedestrians do in the developed countries or in the region. The mean free flow walking speed of Erbil pedestrians that has been observed is 51.31 m/min and it is comparatively slower than that of others countries. On the other hand, elder Pedestrians (50 years or older) were the slowest among others, with an average walking speed of nearly 20 m/min. The walking speed, pedestrian density, and flow rate of pedestrian were modelled. Mathematical models were obtained, and compared with those of other countries. It was concluded that Male pedestrian wearing Kurdish style are faster by about 2 m/min when compared with pedestrian wearing western style (trousers). When female pedestrian are considered, the variation of walking speed among using different clothing style was not significant. Knowing the local pedestrian characteristics and its variation from the international standards is essential in the design of pedestrian facilities.